Monday, 19 August 2013

It has to be said that Day one hit some heights, it really
did. The mainstage programme was mouth-watering
(especially the back to back of Mesh/Saltatio Mortis/Cruxshadows/Mono Inc.) and
even HIM delivered the goods.

Assorted bands on Day two could have gone either way – which 69
Eyes would turn up? What sort of set would Apoptygma Berzerk churn out? Could
Zeromancer fill the void left by IAMX’s withdrawal? Well, these are amongst the
questions we set to find out on our picks for day two.

Coppelius were
third on the mainstage and the first to develop any sort of crowd. Quite a large crowd for lunchtime – had it
not been that most of the following
bands had similar crowds then they’d have a big argument for a higher bill
position. They’d fit in very well
within the Steampunk scene, clothing and attire is akin to 1920’s Berlin (so it
says in their bio) as they set out with courteous gentlemen and their
Butler. Even their stage crew are in appropriate
dress! They come armed with Cello,
Double Bass and clarinets – but – boy – do they rock with them! They are really
on the ball with the aesthetics and presentation and no wonder they got such a
big response.

Next up, sponsored by Just for Men, is Dad-Rock assemble The 69 Eyes. They’re today’s embarrassment. As per their last appearance here, they drop
most of their recent output and instead take most of their set from the ‘Blessed
Be’ album, which is now thirteen years old. So, it’s all ‘Gothic Girl’, ‘Brandon Lee’ and ‘The Chair’ kinda Gawth
set. They’re really getting a bit too
old to still be doing the whole “Helsinki Vampires” bullshit, sorry guys –
vampires don’t age: you do! You even
now dance round the stage like a Dad dancing at a wedding. It’s just not graceful, it’s not even disgraceful
in a rock n roll way. With the drummer
dropping his sticks constantly and more cliché’s than Spinal Tap – all we’re
missing is a mini Stonehenge with Dwarves dancing round it (oh wait, that was
Ost+Front yesterday). They were MUCH
better last time, but this is just cringe worthy.

Another band having issues with new material is Clan of Xymox – it’s not going down
very well. Surprising, ‘Emily’ is a cracking tune – it’s got that core hint of
what CoX have always been about, with some fresher sounding synths to keep them
relevant! A lacklustre response to the early part of the set does little to
lift glum Goth faces, but it does become a set of two halves, they can barely
get a clap going in the first half, but when they peddle out ‘Louise’ and ‘Jasmine
and Rose’ it’s full on Gothic Party Time. Their cover of ‘Venus’ rounds off the set emphatically, a far cry from
their tough start.

Apoptygma Berzerk : Back to the Future(Pop)
Photo by Bernd Zahn

It’s fairly interesting if you follow the history of Apoptygma Berzerk – arguably, at their
peak, one of the biggest bands on the scene. Hell, they played places like the main room in Nottingham Rock City back
in the day – they headlined Infest… while last year lost out to a slot at
Infest on a band poll won by XP8. Obviously XP8 are a great band – but it shows how APB have lost some
stock over the years. Their secret has
always been a clever one, rather than
being completely innovative off their own backs, they’ve looked to what is
popular and successful and just done it better.
So they’ve swung from darkwave into future-pop into indie-synth
territory. It hasn’t always worked
though, each swing has cost them fans as well as made them new ones – so when
they swung into future-pop with ‘Welcome to Earth’ they picked up more fans
than they lost – but however great ‘You and Me Against The World’ or ‘Rocket
Science’ actually were, they swung away from their fanbase and didn’t really do
enough to make new fans. Today, they’re suffering a form of amnesia as
they’ve forgotten anything from the last two albums and have gone back to the
future-pop – ‘Eclipse’, ‘Starsign’ and ‘Until the End of the World’ are all
pure party anthems. The band has seen a
few line-up changes since the last album, Angel left the band but is now back
on guitar is a temporary measure whilst the absence of Gier on keyboards is
filled with Stephan’s brother Jonas. Jonas is very lively on stage and is good as working the crowd as
Stephan, good job he’s got his own band else Stephan would be under threat!

The show is carried out with minimal production, no screens
or OTT light shows of days gone by – the focus solely on the songs and the
partying. Although the last two albums
were disregarded, there is one nod of new material as the band played their new
single, ‘Major Tom (Coming Home)’ – a cover of the Peter Schilling track. It’s another uplifting track to bounce along
to, the song was a big hit in Germany and the crowd gobbles up Apop’s version.

Zeromancer : we're not IAMX, but we can rock...
Photo by Jesko Doering

Poor Chris Corner has had prolonged ill-health and sadly
this has meant IAMX have had to cancel a few shows, including M’era Luna. This has meant that Zeromancer have stepped in, at under a week’s notice. Eek! However,
the end response is they are genuinely humbled by the response. “We’re sorry we’re not IAMX” greeted with a
heckle of “We forgive you!” and it is wall to wall people in the Hangar. Of course, this is helped that Zeromancer
bring their A-Game. They knew they’d
have to work harder and that is exactly what they do, they pour themselves into
the hour long performance. They also do
this whilst avoiding just doing a ‘hits’ or ‘early years’ set – so yeah,
everyone knows ‘God Bless the Models’ and ‘Clone Your Lover’ – but the likes of
‘The Hate Alphabet’, ‘Auf Wiedersehen, Boy’ and ‘Sinners International’ are
well received. Perhaps these albums have
been better promoted in Germany than they have in the UK… there’s a bit of range to their
industrial-metal stylings, sure there are heavier and upbeat moments like the
classic ‘Dr Online’, but they pull off the more calm and melodic ‘Cupula’ and ‘The
Tortured Artist’ with a sleak perfection. They probably didn’t envision such a good response to their set, but
with the effort they put into it, it was certainly deserved.

A quick passing note on Front
242. They don’t work in broad
daylight.

Nightwish : Bye, bye beautiful?!
Photo by Bernd Zahn

The final band of M’era Luna 2013 was Nightwish – it’s also the last date on their Imaginaerum world tour
and subsequently billed as Floor Jansen’s last date fronting the band. For those not following the story, Annette
left the band on mutual agreement prior to the Imaginaerum tour and Floor stood
in as a temporary measure (well, temporary being the year and a half the tour
needed!). There is, however, something
missing in the emotion tonight. It’s
either not that big a deal she’s departing, or maybe they’ve already discussed
her staying on longer – it certainly didn’t have an emotional farewell feel
about it. Vocally, she would be a great
addition to the band – her range from high to low is much wider than Annette’s
and her renditions of tracks like ‘Ghost Love Score’ and ‘Dark Chest of Wonders’
are simply mouth-watering. Not even the rain, the only real downpour of the weekend, dampens the spirits of the
thousands who’ve come to watch them. It
seems now that Floor has become a “fans choice” for new frontwoman, as she wins
over the crowd with such ease and generates such a good reception for each
number. Sometimes bands can look tired
at the end of long tours, but Nightwish generally look on the ball. Marco’s
booming vocals explode on ‘I Wish I Had an Angel’ and the band hit top form as
they power through many of their bigger numbers. It’s an impressive spectacle to end the
weekend, not just is there the power of the music, but the video screens take
you (literally) through their rollercoaster ride.

The set finishes with ‘Last Ride of the Day’ – certainly an
apt song to finish a set with, although is it more apt because it’s Floor’s
last show? It’s supposed to be – but the
farewell speech seemed to be lacking something, it wouldn’t come as a surprise
if she stays on as a vocalist for sure.

So, M’era Luna 2013. Sold out, 25,000 people. Some
utterly excellent performances over the weekend. Not bad for a dying scene. Of course this year they had unlocked some
bands that were overdue a return rather than relying on the same old
names. 2014 will be their 15th
Anniversary, the first twelve names have been announced: I wonder what else will
be announced to keep up this momentum?